Drama aims to get to the bottom of origin of classic holiday poem

Published 8:16 pm, Friday, December 5, 2014

The event is a mock, theatrical courtroom trial first organized last year at the courthouse by Troy publicist and writer Duncan Crary to determine who really wrote the famous holiday poem, "The Night Before Christmas."

The poem, originally called "A Visit from St. Nicholas," was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel newspaper on Dec. 23, 1823. The "trial," which is financed in large part by the Troy public relations firm Gramercy Communications, is designed to answer the question of whether the real author was Clement Clarke Moore of New York City or Henry Livingston Jr. of Poughkeepsie.

Last year's event was standing-room only, and so this year, a number of local high-tech businesses have pitched in to bring the show to audiences both online and with a live simulcast that will be broadcast on a big screen under the courthouse rotunda. The trial ended last year with a hung jury.

This year's event begins at 2 p.m. Sunday and coincides with Troy's 32nd annual Victorian Stroll. The trial is free to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis. The jury is picked from those in attendance.

Crary said MassiveMesh, a Troy company building a wireless data network in the city, has installed a high-speed wireless signal at the courthouse to enable a webcast that will be available to the public. RPI TV, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's student-run TV station will be recording the event and also creating the webcast.

Crary also said a Schenectady company called the CreativeAdvantage will be setting up the courthouse simulcast, and area shops and restaurants will be showing the webcast on their TVs during the event.

Crary also ran a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that raised $2,351 for the event.